The Age of the Self Proclaimed Expert


While the explosion of new technologies and applications (Apps) has led to many amazing improvements in our lives, there is one phenomenon which to me at least is disturbing.  This phenomenon which while always present in society has exploded with the increases in technology.  Specifically, the number of self proclaimed experts has exploded along with these new platforms.  While the new term thrown around is influencer, to actual influence, the public has to see you as having competence to actually be influenced by them and their message.


It is now impossible to spend anytime on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter/X or even the internet in general without being subject to SPEs.  They are there to tell you; how to eat, what to wear, how to exercise, deal with relationships, how to think and vote and basically how to live.  


It was not always this way.  While I may be dating myself, there was a time when if you wanted to be published, act, make music or even teach exercise, there were gatekeepers standing in your way.  While we can debate if things were in fact better in the “old” days, there was something standing between people and their ability to attempt to influence your life.


It can be argued that in the past, many good people never had the opportunity to find their voice and impact the lives of others, there were also many marginal people weeded out.


In today’s world one must be a skeptic.  Is the diet advice someone is touting right for me, but more importantly, is it downright dangerous to people? Is the deadlifting advice I am seeing going to make me stronger or make me book an orthopedic appointment? Should I really say that to my abusive spouse, or am I putting myself in danger?  Hard to know and the reality is what is the accountability of “influencers” for any poor advice they give? 


Where the Explosion of Platforms Benefits


In my opinion, the explosion of these new platforms and I include sites like Medium here is for both the public and the creatives who use them.  People who otherwise would not be able to create stories, videos, articles and music provided it is not harmful content now have platforms and ways to create an audience.  Audiences have new and exciting ways to discover and explore the creative output of others they may not have discovered.  These uses benefit everyone involved and in my opinion differ from the “expert” oriented content many create.


While there are arguments on both sides of this debate, at the end of the day this trend will continue to explode and require people to be discerning and careful with the advice and content they consume.


When trying to work toward achieving your goals, it is easy to get distracted by these so called experts.  Who can you trust.  At the end of the day if the person trying to sell you something expensive only makes money coaching people and has no tangible skills and or business, you should steer clear.  The Science of Getting Rich is free in the public domain and has never been topped as a mindset book.  If you want a more detailed, exact method, you can get my book for less than a hamburger.  These are all you need along with some determination and consistency.  There is no magic formula.  Good luck!  

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